Improvement in oil-cans



my improvement applied, 12 being UNITED STATES WILLIAM A. rosrnn'orFITCHBURG, MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPROVEMENT m OIL-CANS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 143,567, dated October14, 1873 application filed August 21, 1873.

To all whom it may concern! Be it known that I, WILLIAM A. FOSTER, ofFitchburg, county of Worcester and State of Massachusetts, have inventedcertain Improvements in Oil-Cans; and I do hereby declare that thefollowing, taken in connection with the drawings which accompany andform part of this specification, is a description of my inventionsufficient to enable those skilled in the art to practice it.

My invention consists in a special construction of oil-can, whereby nomore than a given predetermined quantity of oil can be poured out upon aSingle tipping or upturning of the can.

In the drawings, A represents a can having an inlet for supplying thecan with the liquid. The discharging-spout 0 extends in the form of acontinuous tube, 0, into the chamber of the can, reaching .as nearly aspracticable to its bottom, where it terminates in a measuring chamber orvessel, 01, made of appropriate dimensions, such that its contents shallnot eX- ceed the quantity which it may be desired to pour out at asingle discharge. This chamber 01 is entirely closed, excepting only atits mouth 0, preferably made in its upper side, to admit the oil thismouth, it will be seen, being in close proximity to the angle formed bythe junction of the wall of the can and its bottom.

It will be observed that the chamber (Z is at one-side of the tube 0,while the spout c is 1 turned or bent in the opposite direction.

A vent-tube, g, is introduced into the can, as shown, the object ofwhich is to give free vent to the pouring out of the oil from the spout,the act of pouring out causing the oil or liquid in tube 9 to be drawnout of it, and thus leave it free to admit Upon turning back the canagain, the liquid will, of course, rise in tube 9 to the level of thatin the can.

If a handle be applied to the can, it should be on the side opposite thespout.

The can being properly filled, it will now be seen that, upon its beingtipped, no more can-possibly'pass out from the spout than just so muchas the chamber at and its tube 0 permit, for the reason that, as the canis turned up, the upper level of the oil falls below the mouth 0, andprevents any more oil The same action takes place every time the can isturned to discharge the contents of the chamber 01; and this,notwithstanding the gradual diminution of the contents of the can,because so long as there remains within the can enough oil to rise tothe top line of chamber cl, and fill that chamber, such oil within itwill be discharged upon turning over the can.

The chamber 61 may be sunk down level with or a little below the bottomof the can, in order that it may the better take up and discharge allthe oil.

The capacity of the chamber 01 and its tube 0' may, of course, be variedto suit the partic ular purpose for which it is intended.

The inlet b I prefer to provide with a valve, 72, inserted in the cork.or plugi as an air-vent above the oil-level. Any valve closing by itsown gravity, and free to be opened by the pressure of the air fromwithin, will suffice.

For all railway and, machinery lubricating, this improvement is of greatservice, as it positively prevents that excessive waste which resultsfrom holding the spout of ordinary cans too long inverted, and allowingthe oil to run away; and where there is much lubri cation needed infactories and elsewhere of machines, each of which needs about a givenknown quantity at each periodical oiling, the chamber 61 being gagedaccordingly, each tilting measures the quantity needed, and limits tojust that supply.

The apparatus is applicable for any other liquids as well as oil, ifdesired.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The improvement in oil-cans consisting in the chamber cl and tube 00, applied to the can, substantially as and for the purpose described.

2. In combination with the chamber (1 and its tube a c, the vent-tube g,having its inner end arranged, relatively to the chamber cl,substantially as shown and described.

WILLIAM A. FOSTER.

Witnesses:

' G. G. RUGGLES,

JOHN H. Onow'rnnn.

